Metal Gear Solid 4 on Xbox 360 – The end of exclusives?
That ever-churning rumor mill is once again rearing its ugly head, as speculation mounts that Metal Gear Solid 4 could be headed to the Xbox 360. If this does indeed happen, MGS4 would follow Resident Evil, Final Fantasy and Tekken, going from Sony exclusives to multi-platform titles. Are console exclusives really coming to an end?
The rumors of an Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Solid 4 first came to light in 2007. Then 2008 saw more of the same, with the build up to the release once again drawing the question of whether the game would see the light of day on the Microsoft console. And now a comment from a Konami PR rep has set the ball rolling once again.
According to Kotaku, Konami mouthpiece Yoshitaka Arai told Morningstar:
The worldwide demand for an Xbox 360 version (of MGS4) is quite high, and it is something we are currently looking in to.
Short and sweet but important nonetheless. Assuming the translation was correct, this indicates that Konami is at least considering bringing the latest iteration of Metal Gear to the Xbox 360. It still may never happen, but the fact it’s even being looked in to reveals a great deal about the current state of the console market.
The big difference with this generation is that all three home consoles could currently be considered successful, but not one has leaped out in front. Sure, the Wii is currently leading by a huge margin but the PS3 and Xbox 360 are also doing well. Which makes the idea of exclusively releasing a game for one console simply idiotic.
There will always be the first party published games, but for third party publishers such as Konami, limiting itself to one console means an immediate and quite substantial loss of revenue. It makes much more sense to release a game on multiple platforms and gain the maximum number of sales.
If Metal Gear Solid 4 does make it on to Xbox 360, it will have to be a multiple-disc release, unless of course the oft rumored but always denied Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive gets the go-ahead.
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32 Responses to “Metal Gear Solid 4 on Xbox 360 – The end of exclusives?”
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October 15th, 2008
Even if the 360 got a Bluray Dave, not one single game will be made on Bluray. It’s DVD till the end.
October 15th, 2008
Very true, CAD.
Unless a game wants to sell virtually nothing. having games on BR for the 360 would be making the consumers by an expensive extra, and the game wouldn’t sell, period.
As for exclusives, I don’t think its the end. The PS3 and 360 may have to share, but I think developers will look more and more at the Wii. The motion controls would make any game for it unique, even if they are used in a limited way, and the large install base and low developement cost means a good chance of making money.
With developement costs high and install base low for the PS3 and 360, its more likely that any game made for one will end up on the other as well, in order to attempt to gain back the costs of making a game for such a high end console.
October 15th, 2008
I don’t know if it will be a multi-disc game. Has anyone tried putting a copy of MGS4 into a computer with a blu-ray drive? I hear stories that the same data is copied there 4-5 times to compensate for the slow read speed of blu-ray. Take that into account, as well as compressing the audio and changing the cutscenes to FMV, then it may well fit onto one disc.
October 16th, 2008
With all this talk of Mgs4, im off to play it. Still trying to get that elusive BIg boss costume..
October 16th, 2008
harry why would they need to do that when it installs each chapter to the hdd anyways, and I suspect changing the cutscenes to FMV would increase the size (remember you’re making fmv for 720p displays at least)
The way I see it, if they want to do it then they will find a way whether it be compressed audio, textures etc etc etc.
I suspect its all ‘contract’ stuff holding them back as well as figuring out if if its worth the extra $$$ to modify it.
October 16th, 2008
The last time MGS came to the xbox was sons of liberty – as i remember it – it wasnt a very good port – there was significant slowdown in the opening rain filled cutscene for one!
Even so – it didnt set the M$ world on fire – im expecting 4 (if it does indeed come out) to be the same..
By the time it happens (if it did) there will other games out for people to get excited for…
besides – id say that most people who wanted to play it bad enough – did so when it was released one way or another – i did – on my brother-in laws PS3 – thought it was pretty average – and im a MGS fan.
October 16th, 2008
@ SW, if they loaded every chapter onto the HDD, then that would be a 52 or however large a blu ray disc gig’s worth of install.
From memory, I remember someone saying that the cutscenes took a lot of space, hence the FMV suggestion. Either way, if there are $$$ to be had, then they’ll find a way to make it.
Personally, I wouldn’t buy it even if it came on 360, stealth games are not my type of game. I’d rather the games where you run into a mass of enemies with 2 guns blazing, like Schwarzeneggar does in his movies. That man could give Chuck Norris a run for his money.
Off topic, I downloaded the Endwar demo. Not bad at all, but the tanks didn’t respond to my command of ‘Hey you, in the tank! Spin around real fast!’.
October 16th, 2008
This wont happen. Im sure Konami will be CONSIDERING it but at the end of the day its Hideo Kojimas baby and they have to talk him round too. There are a lot of 360 piss takes in that game and all are down to Kojima. He’s a true 360 hater. MGS5 will definately be on 360 aswell though.
October 16th, 2008
Also, konami will realise that MGS4 would just get pirated before release on 360 and they’d make no money anyway. MS have got a big problem on there hands with that and all game developers and publishers will take it into acount in the future.
October 16th, 2008
Won’t happen just the audio alone won’t fit a on a DVD9 disc. Also like Sony is gonna let that happen are you high. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is gonna be on PS3 for ever. MGS5 if they make it it will also be exclusive to PS3 because if MGS4 is not possible what makes you think 5 will. Al Xbox 360 owners dream on having MGS4 the dream that will never end. Konami won’t bother… That guy was just trying to get Konami publicity.
October 16th, 2008
I wonder when Microsoft will stop stealing exclusives and get off their arse to invest in exclusive titles for their own product rather than steal everything else everyone else has.
October 16th, 2008
When has MS ever been about trying to create somethig new. They see what has the most hype and buy the exclusive/timed. Why did Katamari go to the 360?
Ace Combat?
They simply see what games are established and try and make it somehow special for the 360. Tomb Raider anyone?
I’m just glad they can’t get Sony’s own titles. I’m sure they would be drooling to get a hold of God of War and Shadow of the Colossus franchises..
As far as Metal Gear 4 is concerned. This is still in Rumor phase. It makes me wonder what deal they had with Konami. 2k’s deal with MS didn’t allow them to even breath that there was a possibility of Bioshock coming out on the PS3 until the time frame on the exclusive ended.
October 16th, 2008
IVan_PSP:
you are probably the most deluded fanboy troller on the net…
im pretty sure you said the same thing about tekken 6 and final fantasy!
face it – pretty soon all third party PS3 games will eventually come to xbox – or do you think the developers of third party PS3 games will be content with the sales on one console?
Playstation got Bioshock, supposedly is gonna get Mass Effect as well..
BOTH of those games are better then MGS4, tekken 6 (another fighting game? meh) and FF13 – (considering as M$ already has a stack of JRPGS who really cares about FF?)
so face it – its happening.
October 16th, 2008
Kojima is my hero. I believe in him.
Money wont persuade him!
But maybe… Just maybe…. MGS4, might get ported to Xbox 720?
October 16th, 2008
this is why you ps3 fanboys are so hilarious.
Metal Gear was on the NES first. sony is sooooo original…lmao…
so much loyalty, so little knowledge…
ps…ms has brought Halo, Forza, Splinter Cell, GeOW, and other franchises to the console market as exclusives at launch.
personally, i don’t care if it comes to the 360. we don’t need it. we have enough games to keep us happy, with the highest attach ratio to prove it.
*waits for davep to delete this post*
October 16th, 2008
Forza…MS’s answer to GT, and Splinter Cell..their answer to Metal Gear Solid. oh..btw..thx for writing it GeOW. Not everyone remembers….
While I’m sure everyone and their brother know that Metal Gear was on the NES first, Metal Gear Solid was where it got the recognition it deserved.
quite frankly..Gears 2 is the only game coming out for the 360 I wish was also on the PS3.
October 16th, 2008
harry it was done on a per chapter basis, so once you got to chapter 2, chapter 1 was deleted and chapter 2 installed. But even then it was only i think about 4-5 gigs per chapter.
October 16th, 2008
its annoying but bearable for a great game as MGS4, im still replaying just to unlock everything. Its the only game series worth replaying because theres so much to it.
October 16th, 2008
@Dan – Piracy didn’t stop devs releasing for ps2, psx, xbox, and for the loooooooooooooooongest time PC (altho thats starting to change).
October 16th, 2008
Third party exclusives in general are becoming a thing of the past. Due to rising development costs, it makes sense to try to sell as many units as possible. That being said, third party exclusives are not completely dead. I can name: Quantum Theory, Final Fantasy XIII vs, Heavy Rain… They are few and far between but they do still exist.
I think Sony does have the right strategy of investing in first party developers that will stay exclusive. But in the case of Metal Gear and Final Fantasy they should make exceptions.
October 16th, 2008
KEEP DREAMING stop drolling over PS3 games just buy the system. Blu-ray is all MGS4. Sony and Konami are FAMILY. Sony publish many FF.
October 16th, 2008
Kev- I’m sorry, but I seem to remember playing splinter cell, and I’ve never owned a Xbox. I don’t know the history of that game, but it must have been released for PS2 at some point. It may have been exclusive at launch though.
As far as MSG4 going to the 360, who cares. It has sold as many consoles as its going to sell. It’s done it’s job. This industry really can’t support third party exclusives anymore. Sony realizes that. MS is going to have to realize it soon as well.
October 16th, 2008
http://home.earthlink.net/~ivan-playstation/id27.html MGS4 will never be possible on Xbox 360 and it won’t ever be available for Xbox 360 no matter how many useless rumor people make. FFXIII for Xbox 360 will have to use more than 2 dvd9 disc plus the hdd and dumb down FFXIII in Japan only for PS3 FF Versus XIII exclusive. PS3 third party exclusive support is still huge. The only good PS3 exclusive Sony has lost were GTA n FF the other no problem. Microsoft is about to lose the crap of Mass Effect and the crap Gears of War 3. Konami hates Microsoft.
October 16th, 2008
@ Bourne_PSP,
“I wonder when Microsoft will stop stealing exclusives and get off their arse to invest in exclusive titles for their own product rather than steal everything else everyone else has.”
So what do you call it when games like Bioshock, Eternal Sonata etc come onto the PS3? That’s not stealing, right?
October 16th, 2008
@harry sachz
No thats developer choice, Sony does not pay for exclusives timed or not nor downloadable content. Something MS is notorious for doing.
October 16th, 2008
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/86870-Japanese-Paper-Hushes-Up-MGS4-Story
Japanese Paper Hushes Up MGS4 Story
The Japanese business journal that first reported the possibility of Metal Gear Solid 4 coming to the Xbox 360 has apparently changed its mind about the story, but rather than retracting the report it’s pretending it never happened in the first place.
As is by now widely known, the Kabushkiki journal, published by Japanese investment firm Morningstar, reported a statement by Konami PR representative Yoshitaka Arai saying the company was investigating the possibility of bringing the hit PlayStation 3 release Metal Gear Solid 4 to the Xbox 360. The statement flew in the face of earlier and oft-repeated denials by by Sony and Konami, but the recent addition of other PlayStation exclusives to the 360 catalog, coupled with the fact that Arai is a Konami employee, lent the statement considerable credibility.
But now, as GameCyte reports, it appears the journal is no longer willing to stand by the story. Instead of printing a retraction as you’d normally expect, however, the publication has apparently taken a page from the Augusto Pinochet school of journalism and decided to make the whole thing just disappear. The article has been drastically modified, and now quotes a different Konami rep talking about a different game series, although the date of the article as it appears on Japanese sites carrying the story has not been changed. A Kabushkiki representative told J-Cast News that the release should not be considered a correction, but rather a “second appearance” of the same report.
When contacted about the change, Konami once again denied plans to port Metal Gear Solid 4 to the 360, while Microsoft Japan had no comment.
Maybe this is how things are done in Japan, I honestly don’t know, but from a North American perspective the whole deal comes off smelling fishy. A retraction would make it clear that this was a legitimate mistake: The guy misspoke, or was misinterpreted, or was drunk and thought it’d be funny, or whatever. But this “second appearance” looks like nothing so much as a cover-up, with all the conspiratorial nonsense that implies. I have no idea if MGS4 will ever come to the 360 and to be quite honest I couldn’t care less, but if Konami is serious about making these rumors go away they’re doing a remarkably poor job of it.
October 16th, 2008
Mr Sparkle,
He wasn’t talking about DLC and timed exclusives, he was talking about GAMES.
October 16th, 2008
I think we may have found the culprit….
October 16th, 2008
NEWS Flash on Gamerblorge….Mario Kart & Crysis are coming to the 360 at xmas. M$ are calling it an exclusive the Xbox and no other console or PC has ever or will ever have. They have also outlined details of exclusive downloadable content that ONLY the 360 will have.
They are labelling it M$ Ultimate Packages. You pay a super premium for things that are promised and them wait years for…….nothing.
Fanboys rejoice!!!!!!
BTW I’ve got a nice bridge for sale…hardly ever been used.
October 17th, 2008
@Rhino
What sort of idiotic dribble is that? If it was an attempt of humor, it missed badly. If it was meant to be a snide comment about the 360, it just made no sense.
October 17th, 2008
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article…4-on-360-quote
Report removes ‘MGS4 on 360′ quote
The Japanese news outlet which fuelled rumours that Konami is considering releasing Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the Xbox 360 has amended its article and removed a quote from a Konami representative.
According to the original piece, a spokesperson for the publisher said of the game, “we’re actively looking into a release for the Xbox 360″.
The report now makes no mention of Metal Gear Solid 4, although it’s not clear whether the original article was in error or the quote was removed at the request of Konami.
According to GameCyte, the article now mentions Winning Eleven and Castlevania to illustrate its point that Japanese publishers are moving from single to multiformat releases.
Speaking to J-Cast news, a representative for the company said that the article has not been corrected or changed, but republished as a ’second appearance’.
The rumour that Hideo Kojima’s PS3 game will appear on the Xbox 360 refuses to die, but Konami has always denied the possibility and Kojima himself has stated that it would not be possible due to the capacity of PlayStation 3 Blu-ray discs.
October 17th, 2008
oops is Ivan_PSP not Ivan_PP my mistake. I’m reporting for Xbox 360 owners who love PS3.